Daryl Lorette Cafe'

In the liner notes for her third disc, Jennifer Lopez writes that making This Is Me...Then will "always represent a time in my life where I finally started to get it right." Fans will hope that's not wishful thinking from a star as famous for her turbulent romantic escapades as she is for her music and acting career. It's anybody's guess whether or not Lopez's impending marriage (her third in less than five years) to actor and People magazine–dubbed "Sexiest Man Alive" Ben Affleck will last longer than her volatile courtship with rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs (three years) or her marriage to dancer Chris Judd (nine months), but one thing's for certain. The 11 glowing tracks on This Is Me...Then, penned in part by Lopez, were written by a woman in love. In fact, all but two of the songs -- the upbeat "Still," curiously about a love Lopez once "big pimped" around town with, and {|Carly Simon|}'s "You Belong to Me" -- seem to have been inspired by her relationship with Affleck. For sure, Lopez may be more adept at writing sugar-and-spice ballads such as the confessional "Dear Ben" and the gushing "Again" than she is at actually singing them. Her sincerity compensates for what she lacks in vocal range, and she shines best on hip-hop-guided tracks such as the LL Cool J–assisted "All I Have," which samples Debra Laws's R&B classic "Very Special." On the Latin-tinged "I'm Glad," the boricua beauty exclaims, "I think I'm in love. Damn, finally!" While her wedding planner will be sorry to hear that, adoring fans will rejoice right along with their "Jenny from the Block."